A spotlight on the business end of regulation

“It’s a good thing for someone like me who loves regulation, but we need ways to make businesses and employees understand their obligations, and why it’s a good thing to comply with regulation.”

Having spent 13 years as a practising lawyer, followed by more than 17 years as an academic at the University of Tasmania, Ms Bingham has been on both sides of the divide in her career.

Her focus now is on understanding Australian business needs related to corporate governance, regulation, and commercial and business law, and translating the best ways to keep up with constantly shifting legislation.

“The law changes all the time in Australia. In business, if you’re breaking the law, you might not know it, and it can be a real burden,” she explains.

“We're looking at how we can make businesspeople and non-businesspeople comply with regulation. We’re interested in the psychological aspects of it – not only in terms of why it’s good to comply, but also to understand the purpose of regulation. It’s a real business focus.'

You only have to look back 10 years to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to see one of the best examples of regulation at work, where Australia’s highly regulated financial sector managed to avoid the tremendous pitfalls that engulfed financial giants in the US at catastrophic rates.

Ms Bingham found that, in Australia, instead of encouraging the adoption of new attitudes and regulatory practices, the GFC revealed the effectiveness of those that were already in play, and further reinforced them.

“We wanted to know, after the GFC, did large firms in Australia think directors needed to be more financially and legally astute? We looked at the shift in skills to find out if firms were becoming more aware of the impact of unskilled directors and the need for regulation,” she says.

'We interviewed directors and found that, in Australia, they’ve always been aware of the need to be very fluent across regulation. We concluded that firms have always been careful here.'

Ms Bingham is now investigating the place of regulation in an area that’s particularly close to her heart – dog breeding .

As a long-time breeder of Italian Greyhounds, she knows how a lack of regulation can hurt new owners and the dogs themselves, and after five years of investigation into the industry, she’s about to publish her PhD thesis on the subject.

'My PhD is about the regulation of dog breeding in Australia. I’m looking at how it can improve outcomes for dogs, puppies, and the people buying them,” she says.

“This will have impact on the industry, as I’m advocating for changes to occur, and have had input from many stakeholder groups about how we can tighten up on puppy farms and bad breeding practices.”

Any expert in law and regulation can tell you that having the right knowledge is key to compliance, and training the next generation of lawyers, accountants, and businesspeople is a crucial part of Ms Bingham’s role at the University.

And having won numerous teaching awards at a Faculty level, in addition to a nomination for a Carrick citation for her teaching, it’s something that she’s particularly effective at.

'I’ve got good people skills, and I'm very happy to continue to learn. I can understand where the students are coming from and say, ‘This is the journey we can all expect,’” she says.

This is especially important where international students are concerned, Ms Bingham adds, to ensure that they’re given the support they need to navigate unfamiliar business cultures as they prepare to step out into the workforce.

'When I was at university all those years ago, I didn’t learn the practical skills that I needed in the workforce,” she recalls.

“You not only have to give students the 'hard skills’, such as teaching them about auditing and financial accounting, but you also need to give them the 'soft skills’, like time management, people skills, and critical thinking.'

'It’s a bit of a buzzword, but we want to make our students 'work-ready’.'

Connect with Simone Bingham

Simone is a lecturer with the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics. She teaches in the arrears of commercial and business law, corporate governance, regulation. Simone is undertaking her PhD with the Faculty of Law on a part time basis. Simone's thesis explores the role and effectiveness of regulation in dog breeding.

Biography

Simone graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1990 with a combined Economics and Law degree. She completed the legal practice course and worked as a family/commercial /planning and probate lawyer in Hobart unit 2002. Simone joined the School of Accounting and Finance in 2002 and has been employed by that school, now part of the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics since that time.

She has won numerous teaching awards at Faculty level and been nominated for a Carrick citation for her teaching. She has taught a large number of different units for the school in commercial law, corporate governance, regulation, taxation and financial management.

Simone is currently in the fourth year, on a part time basis of her PhD with the Faculty of Law, looking at the role and effectiveness of regulation in dog breeding in Australia.

Career summary

Qualifications

Degree

Title of Thesis

University

Country

Awarded

BComm (Hons)

University of Tasmania

Australia

2004

GradCertLegPrac

University of Tasmania

Australia

1991

BEc-LLB

University of Tasmania

Australia

1990

Memberships

Professional practice

Member: State Library and Archive Trust

Committee associations

Member: Tasmanian Canine Association

Member and Treasurer: Huon and Channel Kennel Club

Administrative expertise

Simone was a partner in the law firm Worrall Bingham and Oakley prior to becoming an academic. She was staff partner so has developed effective communication skills. She was a casual mediator with Relationships Australia for over ten years so have developed effective mediation skills.

Teaching

Commercial transactions, business law, law for managers, finance for managers, financial management, international regulation, corporate law and regulation, introduction to corporate governance, regulatory compliance and taxation

Teaching expertise

Simone has taught across approximately 10 units offered by the Faculty of Business (now TSBE) Including, commercial transactions, business law, law for managers, finance for managers, financial management, international regulation, corporate law and regulation, introduction to corporate governance, regulatory compliance and taxation.

She has successfully completed the unit – University Teaching, done as part of her Graduate Certificate in Research.

Connect with Simone Bingham

Expertise

Corporate Governance

Scholarship of Teaching

Animal Law

Regulatory Studies

Research Themes

Simone has undertaken research in the areas of corporate governance and in the scholarship of learning and teaching. Simone's PhD topic is a cross disciplinary one, using social legal research to consider from a regulatory studies view the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework that regulates both hobby and commercial dog breeders. She also considers the role of consumer law in assisting dog buyers who have purchased a puppy that has genetic or physical issues reducing its quality as a companion animal.